Recipes

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Truffle or Truffle?


Do not be confused with the Chocolate Truffle and Truffle Mushroom.

They are the same spelling, but different products altogether.

Today i am writing about the ever-decadent dessert of all times, Chocolate Truffles.

If you want to try out the quality of various brands of chocolate sold in the market, this is the best way to do it, by making simple basic truffle.

There are alot of different recipes to make truffles, but the core ingredients are always the same.

Recipes: BASIC TRUFFLE *Adapted from http://www.joyofbaking.com/
Ingredients:
1. 8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
2. 3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream
Optional: cocoa powder (to coat truffle)



Method: For Truffles:
- Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. - Set aside. - Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil.



- Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth.






(put in fridge to set it)

(got extra? ...not wasting it to the last last drop.)

(waste not... want not...)

(ooohhh....feeling like Nigella now...)

- Place your coatings for the truffles on a plate. - Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator. - With your hands, or else a melon baller or small spoon form the chocolate into round or mis-shaped bite-sized balls.
- Immediately roll the truffle in the coating and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or tray. Cover and place in the refrigerator until firm. - Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months. - Bring to room temperature before serving.


- If desired, add the liqueur. Cover and place in the refrigerator until the truffle mixture is firm (this will take several hours or overnight).


Makes 30 small truffles.



By playing with the ratio of chocolate couverture and whipped cream, you can also make ganache.


For more extravagant pleasures, you can also coat the truffles with an assortment of roasted chopped nuts, toasted dessicated coconuts, colorful jimmies or sand sugar, puffed rice...


We may also flavour the truffles with liquer, with the likes of Grand Marnier, rum, Kahlua or any other flavours of your choice.






Sunday, July 11, 2010

Chinese Sweet Soup (糖水)...



"Tong sui (糖水), also known as tim tong (甜湯), is a collective term for any sweet, warm soup or custard served as a dessert at the end of a meal in Cantonese cuisine. Tong sui are a Cantonese specialty and are rarely found in other regional cuisines of China. Outside of Cantonese-speaking communities, soupy desserts generally are not recognized as a distinct category, and the term tong sui is not used." excerpt from wikipedia.org




Nowadays, there are so many selections to choose from. Really, its just too many... If you have the opportunity to visit us in Malaysia, be sure not to miss this delectable goodness! Be adventurous and explore! If there is a demand, i can consider to organise a foodie trip...:)




The tong sui can be categorized by few common varieties.

1. Thick paste type (Peanut Paste 花生糊, best served warm)
2. Clear (almost consome-like) type (Sweet Potato Soup 番薯糖水)
3. Jelly or pudding type (Tau Fu Far 豆腐花)
4. Custardy type (Steamed Egg Custard 燉蛋)
5. Shaved ice type (Sai Mai Lo 西米露)



The photos featured in this post is considered the Clear type. Nothing heavy, just clear sweet broth, slow boiled with Chinese nuts & seeds and dried longan.
The Westerners might mistaken this as Consome, well, almost...

The weather was excruciatingly hot, I decided to quench my thirst and bought this from a mobile cart that sells glorious tong suis', with wide selection of ingredients to choose from.




He basically sells the basic clear broth, then its your choice to select the ingredients.

You may choose from par-boiled Chinese nuts & seeds (which contains medicinal properties), pre-cooked dried fruits (longan, orange peel), colorful cubed & striped jellies, sagos, barleys, par-boiled cubed yams, sweet potatoes, and so much more.





The sun light was great for photo capturing. Since i have an hour lunch break, i might as well take advantage of the bright sunlight; the photos turned out fabulously! And i loved it.
What do you think?
Photos were taken using point & shoot camera by Canon.
Thank you for dropping by.
Have a great week!

Monday, July 05, 2010

Silky Smooth Tau Fu Far aka Soy Bean Curd



I usually liked my Tau Fu Far served with palm sugar syrup.

The flavour of the palm sugar syrup were full bodied, and complement the soy bean curd wonderfully.

For those uninitiated, Tau Fu Far is a popular Chinese dessert, it may be served hot or cold.

I like mine hot.

Tau Fu Far is basically coagulated soy bean milk. The result is smooth and silky custard...

Unlike jellies, agar or pudding, Tau Fu Far textures are usually smooth, often, it slides down your throat, like breathing air...

Yes is that smooth.

In China, they are served savoury. I have tried once, Tau Fu Far with chopped scallion, and mince meat sauce over it. I can get use to that. In certain parts of China, they are served with chilli oil and nuts, best eaten with rice.


http://yihan-thoughtsofyou.blogspot.com/

In Malaysia, they are usually served sweet.

It is a simple dessert that is comforting yet nutritious. It consists nothing but the soft curd and flavourful syrup.

For extra oommpphh, the simple syrup can be infused with ginger.

For add-ons, the Chinese also add in glutinuous rice balls for a more satisfying dessert.

The Glutinuous Rice Balls is a dessert by itself. Once match with Tau Fu Far, this winning combo will not disappoint.

It has few common filling, mashed sweet red bean, pounded roasted peanut/ black sesame seed...for the adventurous, one may also opt for chocolate filling...

For fusion varieties, one may also go with cream cheese, strawberry coulis... the choices are endless...

More of those balls later...let's focus on Tau Fu Far.

For more cultural appealing, nowadays, Tau Fu Far can be served along with canned mixed fruit, cincau, flavoured with all sorts of interesting ingredients, so crazy! Its just too much going on in the mouth.

Tau Fu Far with crazy flavours and colors


Tau Fu Far with Cincau

http://lyyyl.blogspot.com/




I prefer the original.

You may try this recipe.

Want to have your protein fix at once?!

Visit The Soya Shop at Sunway Giza Shopping Mall,1st Floor@Kota Damansara, Hartamas Shopping Centre,2nd Floor@Sri Hartamas

Open daily from 10am-10pm, all are welcome! Not sure how to find the soya shops at Hartamas and Kota Damansara? Call 24-hour Customer Service line 6012-6655282.